T-SQL Tuesday #99 : The Roundup

What a great experience to host T-SQL Tuesday #99.

I could not have predicted that so many of you would be willing to share personal details about your life outside of SQL Server, and reading them all kind of blew me away. I thought this would be an interesting way to get to know you all a little better, and I was definitely right!

There were also multiple people who submitted both a post about outside passions and a post about T-SQL bad habits / best practices.

Well done all around, and I hope you'll all consider playing next month, when Adam Machanic himself will host #100. Watch tsqltuesday.com for the announcement.

And now, here's a quick roundup of this month's FIFTY entries, ordered by NEWID():

David tells a gut-wrenching story about how he started participating in triathlons 20 years ago, finishing as well as 7th in the World Championships, before switching to Ironman after a bout with Lymphoma, and then cycling and cyclocross after some nagging injuries.Read David's post

Tracy talks about her amazing role in a program called Guardium ad Litem, making a real difference for foster kids that are enduring many of the same things she herself endured as a child. This is a very uplifting story, with a call to action for you to participate in a similar program in your area. And don't worry Tracy, it's totally fine that you didn't include any pictures. Read Tracy's post

Bert explains that when he wants to get away from computers he goes camping - but he doesn't seem to do anything half-assed. Check out his amazing menu - I mean, pad thai? Cinnamon rolls? Can I come?Watch Bert's video

Glenn introduces us to the world of home brewing. Like Bert, Glenn takes this pretty seriously - he walks through his complicated gear and meticulous techniques, which undoubtedly helped him medal in two different Colorado brewing competitions.Read Glenn's post

Brent reveals his obsession love for art by Sas Christian, showing off many pieces he and Erika have in their home. I didn't spot any alien sex organs, but he does warn that some links lead to guaranteed NSFW zones.Read Brent's post

Shane mentions some crazy things he's done for charity, including cage fighting and swimming 13 KM. Yikes. Then he changes up the story and talks about mythology - if you had any burning questions about Greek, Norse, or Roman mythology, Shane is your man. He'll even solve your riddles about leprechauns.Read Shane's post

Raul chose door #2, and discusses several reasons we shouldn't default to using Unicode data types for columns in SQL Server. He explains a silver lining though: data compression, available in all editions starting with SQL Server 2016 SP1, will let you trade that space for a little bit of CPU.Read Raul's post

Hugo talks about a wide array of his non-technical passions: his family, the incredible goals of his children, jazz ballet, snooker, and Hearthstone. I never thought I would type the words "jazz ballet," but I'm quite happy to learn more about Hugo.Read Hugo's post

Jeff shows us his 125-gallon aquarium, and several of the tanks he progressed through over the years. It really hit home with me that he enjoys it because it is a living and evolving environment that he helps make a reality.Read Jeff's post

Andy was one of the folks who submitted posts covering both doors. In this post, he makes a pretty convincing argument that tabs don't belong in T-SQL code (but isn't hell-bent on changing your mind).Read Andy's post

Riley discusses the decisions many shops make between storing business logic in the database tier and having all the various presentation and API tiers duplicate that logic. One thing I'll add is that when you put validation outside of the database, it becomes all too easy to bypass that validation - intentionally or not.Read Riley's post

Deborah shares her love for music and theater, explaining that she is an accomplished choir section leader and guitarist, and has recently picked up the mandolin. She is part of something she calls #choirfamily - mirroring a lot of the traits that make our #sqlfamily so strong.Read Deborah's post

The first of Koen's two posts this month is about collecting Batman comics and graphic novels, and he explains how several aspects of this hobby are similar to his work in the SQL Server space.Read Koen's post

Jeff looks back on his childhood, where he was on track to become a legitimate violin star, until a broken arm cut those goals short. He still derives inspiration from that experience in his current career.Read Jeff's post

Garland describes how he has had a variety of stints riding motorcycles in different stages of his life, and how the choices he has made there are similar to choices we all make in our careers.Read Garland's post

Jess explains how she got hooked on proper football (not hand-egg) while growing up in Oxford. And not just hooked like watching on TV or going to games, but actually playing, and playing well enough to get a scholarship to play at an American university.Read Jess' post

Alexander reveals that he is a huge Star Wars fan, having built his very own life-size R2-D2 - a major undertaking. He combines this passion with a humanitarian effort: visting childrens' wards and reading at libraries (in full, hand-made costumes, of course), and also fundraising for a variety of charities.Read Alexander's post

Andy's second post shows a passion he has developed as a result of traveling to speak at SQLSaturdays, and he has dubbed this "#SQLTourism." I've done similar things - book some extra time before or after an event to go out and see the local sights.Read Andy's post

Jo's post for door #1 talks about how much she enjoys Ingress, an earlier game from the same folks who made Pokemon Go. Playing the game has allowed her to make all kinds of interesting discoveries about the countryside around her, and gets her out on the road more often than she would do without it.Read Jo's post

Eugene shares some pretty personal details in his post, but his main focus is on LARPing (live-action role play). He expresses legitimate fear about potential employers finding out about this hobby, so I admire his bravery in publishing the post anyway. It was entertaining as hell, as he recounts some pretty interesting games.Read Eugene's post

Andy chose the SQL path. He talks about index key order, and warns against blindly following missing index recommendations. He reminds us that we need to make informed decisions about indexes we modify or create, and that we need to step back and look at more than just a single instance of a query before we start implementing physical fixes.Read Andy's post

Koen's post for door #2 makes some great points about the dated (ha!) advice to always use integers for date keys in a data warehouse, dismissing the typical counter-points I've often found myself stuggling against.Read Koen's post

Chris combines this month's two options, opening us up to his world of running, events for charity, and also talking about things like FORMAT() and why code convenience should take a back seat to performance. Read Chris' post

Thomas chose door #2, and stresses that expression AS alias is superior to alias = expression. I'm not going to argue (I promised), but I do have to point out that the SQLPrompt warning is a false alarm: the only form that is deprecated in SQL Server is the one where you use single quotes as string delimiters around the alias: 'string_alias' = expression.Read Thomas' post

Doug shares his photography bug. It's a shame he's a Nikon guy (we're a Canon family). I'm totally kidding; use the tool that works, right? He also talks about his passion for cooking BBQ, which is a lot more interesting than my passion for eating BBQ.Read Doug's post

Tamera discusses some of her passions - her garden, her dinner experiences, her dogs, avoiding community drama, and getting out to see the cities she travels to for SQL events. Tamera: I certainly disagree that you're a boring person, for what it's worth!Read Tamera's post

On a more somber note, and following the recent passing of Tom Roush, Todd creates a memorial to several SQL community folks that are no longer with us. If you haven't been cutting any onions lately, you should definitely check this out.Experience Todd's memorial